Video: Tour de France Impersonations

It's a rest day, which means we're seeing a variety of interviews with Tour de France cyclists and tweets from teams about how their riders spent the day. But this is what we're watching: an awesome mashup of Tour de France cyclist impersonations.

Looking forward to more TdF action tomorrow with Stage 16.

Infographic: Contador Vs. Froome

7 Conclusions From the First Week of the Tour de France

As we head into the second week of the Tour de France, we thought we'd take a look back at we learned from the first nine stages.

Photo via BMCRacingTeam.com

Team BMC is stronger on paper

We had high hopes for Team BMC following a great showing from Cadel Evans at the Giro d'Italia and Tejay van Garderen's win at the Tour of California. Thus far in the Tour, however, BMC is not looking so hot. It all started with a less than wonderful performance in the team time trial. Then van Garderen succumbed to the heat in the first mountain climb during Stage 8, and team leader Evans dropped. With a team with so much talent and power—on paper, anyway—it's hard to say why they're underperforming.

ORICA GreenEDGE had a great week

Despite the bus trouble and sprinter Matt Goss' crash during the first stage, ORICA worked it in the first week of the Tour. Simon Gerrans took Stage 3 on the final island day and the team crushed it in stage 4's team time trial in Nice, with a 75 hundredths of a second victory over world champions Omega Pharma-Quick-Step. This is not at all what we expected after their lackluster performance last year, and it's a very pleasant surprise.

Nairo Quintara, Paris-Nice 2013

Nairo Quintana has the white jersey

Going into week two, Colombian cyclist Quintana is in control of the white jersey. An incredible climber, the Movistar team member attacked during the 8th stage, climbing the Col de Pailheres, the highest in the race. At this point, the overall battle for the white jersey looks like it'll be between Quintana and Omega Pharma-Quick-Step cyclist Michal Kwiatkowski.

Chris Froome is strong despite Team Sky's overall weakness

Team Sky isn't looking so hot anymore, what with injury and crashes causing them to fall back in the ranks—and giving Froome a lonely ride at the front of the pack. Froome looked great last week. He avoided crashes, did well in the time trial and matched Quintana's accelerations in the climbs. But he's going to have to work a hell of a lot harder if he wants that final yellow jersey, since, going into week 2, it looks like he might be going it without much help from his team.

Peter Sagan, 2013 Tour of California

Peter Sagan has a tight hold on the green jersey

Will Sagan (Cannondale) take him his second consecutive points classification? Looks like he might. He has a comfortable 93-point lead over Andre Greipol (Lotto Belisol) and Cavendish sits in third. Sagan's lead is likely due to his versatility as a cyclist; he's managed five podiums thus far, including a win in Stage 7.

Alberto Contador not doing as well as expected

It cannot be denied: Contador isn't doing as well as he should be considering his performance just the last year. In September 2012, he took home the red jersey in the Vuelta a España and he's stood on far too many podiums since to be so out of form going into the rest day of the Tour. We definitely expected a stronger performance from the Saxo-Tinkoff rider.

Photo via Flickr user Lori Branham

Corsica is gorgeous

The opening island stages brought into the Tour to celebrate its 100th year were brutal for the riders, but man, were they gorgeous. With two weeks left of the race, perhaps the only thing we really know for sure is that Corsica is beautiful and those first few stages were wonderful to watch.

Rest Day at the Tour

This is what ORICA GreenEDGE is doing during today's rest day:

The race resumes tomorrow with the 10th stage. We're looking forward to it.

ORICA GreenEDGE's Video of Their Bus Getting Stuck is Hilarious

We can all probably agree that the first stage of this year's Tour de France was chaotic (the New York Times has a great write-up here.) What with ORICA GreenEDGE's bus getting stuck at the finish line and the crash that took down several riders, it was certainly on the crazy side. But at least the folks at ORICA GreenEDGE aren't so serious they can't laugh at themselves a little. While this first stage recap video may not be intentionally hilarious, it's certainly funny in concept and received at least a few laughs from us.

Infographic: 100 Years of the Tour de France

Top 9 Riders to Watch in the 2013 Tour de France

The 100th Edition of the Tour de France begins in just a few weeks, with the first stage (from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia) kicking off on Sunday, June 29. Naturally, we're really excited for the 21-day race in 22 days and we simply couldn't wait to start talking about it. And with news of Fabian Cancellara skipping the race and Brad Wiggins and Chris Horner unable to ride due to injuries, we just can't help but be thinking about the top contenders in this year's Tour. Here are some of the riders we'll be watching—so long as nobody else drops out (fingers crossed!).

Vincenzo Nibali (Editors note: Nibali decided to skip the Tour de France to focus on the world championships)

Vincenzo Nibali, currently riding for Astana, is a powerhouse. The 28-year-old Italian was this year's Giro d'Italia champion, marking his second Grand Tour win (his first being the 2010 Vuelta a España). This season, he also took first at the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Giro del Trentino. In fact, in his entire professional career, Nibali has done no worse than 20th place in any race. Combine all that with his third place ranking in last year's Tour, there should be no wonder we think he'll be a strong force this time around. And if Nibali wins? He'll be in the history books with just seven others (the last was the late, great Marco Pantani in 1998) who have managed to win both the Giro and the Tour in the same year. That said, the cold snowy Giro does take time to recover from, but we wish him the best.

Peter Sagan at the Tour of California

Peter Sagan

With a nickname like "The Terminator" and a race record like Peter Sagan's, of course this 23-year-old Team Cannondale cyclist is on this list. Sagan was second this year at the Tour of Flanders, second in the Milan-San Remo, first in the Brabantse Pijl, first in the Gran Premio Città di Camaiore, among others. At last year's Tour, he won stages three and eight and took first in the points classification—so he's definitely one to look out for this time around. And with two stage wins at the recent Tour of California, the Slovak is looking good.

Chris Froome

What with his teammate Wiggins unable to compete because of a knee injury, Chris Froome is looking to be a top pick to take the whole thing. He's currently in the lead in the Dauphiné Libere. He took second at this year's Tirreno-Adriatico, first in the Tour de Romandie, first in the Critérium International and first in the Tour of Oman. At last year's Tour de France, he placed second. Will the 28-year-old Team Sky rider take first this year? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Alberto Contador

In recent interviews, Froome pointed to the 30-year-old Alberto Contador as his "biggest threat" in this year's Tour de France. Post doping scandal, Contador took first in the Milano-Torino and Vuelta a España in 2012 and second at the Tour of Oman this year, as well as a third place finish at the 2013 Tirreno-Adriatico (finishing first in points classification). Plus, he did win the Tour in both 2007 and 2009. (He also won in 2010, but tested positive for doping.) Is the Team Saxo-Tinkoff rider as big of a threat as Froome suggests? We will soon find out.

Tejay Van Garderen at the Tour of California

Tejay van Garderen

Fresh off of his 2013 Tour of California win, Tejay van Garderen is likely to have a strong showing at this year's Tour. At last year's, he came in fifth overall and first in the young rider classification (he's 24)—all the while doing a ton of work for teammate Cadel Evans. Besides his California win, Tejay's had a pretty strong showing elsewhere, coming in second at the Tour de San Luis, third at the Critérium International (first in the young rider classification) and fourth in the Paris-Nice. It'll be interesting to see how he fairs in France this time around. We're guessing he'll do well.

Ryder Hesjedal (Editor's note: Hedjedal crashed out of the Tour de Suisse and we're not sure if he'll be competing in the Tour de France.)

Maybe this hasn't been Ryder Hesjedal's best year racing, but last year he won the Giro d'Italia and he just signed a contract for three more years with Team Garmin-Sharp, so it's best to not discount the 32-year-old. He's Canada's best hope for a Tour de France win and we're looking forward to seeing what he brings to the race this year.

Mark Cavendish

Currently riding for Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Mark Cavendish, 28, has had a hell of career. This year he placed first in the points classification, as well as the Azzurri d'Italia classification and most combative rider classification at the Giro d'Italia (along with four stage wins at the race), as well as first in the general and points classifications at the Tour of Qatar, among others. The British cyclist is doing quite well, that's for sure, and it'll be fun to see what's got for us at the 2013 Tour.

Cadel Evans

Andy Schleck at the Tour of California

With a first place overall win at the 2011 Tour de France, first at the 2011 Tour of Romandie, first at the 2011 Tirreno-Adriatico, first at the 2012 Critérium International, third at this year's Giro and third at the 2013 Tour of Oman on his track record, of course we're keeping an eye on Cadel Evans. The 36-year-old Australian will be leading Team BMC in this year's Tour de France, which some are suggesting is an interesting choice considering Van Garderen's success—especially considering how he seemed to struggle in the final week of the Giro, falling to third place. But we can't deny Evans is a great cyclist—so we're looking forward to it anyway.

Andy Schleck

When Contrador was caught for doping and his 2010 Tour de France win was revoked, Andy Schleck received the glory retroactively. The next year, he came in runner-up. With previous great showings at our favorite French tour, we wouldn't be surprised if he managed do well again this year. We'll definitely be keeping a look out for this Team RadioShack Leopard Trek rider.